Pomegranate
by Void
Summary: AU AkiraTomoe fic, side EK, meta-fic of Istoria's Streets of Tokyo. Rising politician Kiyosato Akira is falling for his new secretary, Yukishiro Tomoe. She attempts to thaw her emotions while her brother copes with jealousy and his own budding romance.
1. Descent

Disclaimer*: No, I own it, I swear. Tomoe was my idea, and Enishi, too, and Kiyosato. In fact the whole Kenshin universe... And the Bokumatsu, and Western Imperialism... in fact, I'm God.

IMPORTANT Disclaimer - companion fic to Istoria's "Streets of Tokyo." I asked her if I could write a fic based on the events of that fic and she said yes!!! :D It's *very* peripheral to the main storyline of that series, though... There will be very little of mention of Kaoru, and less of Kenshin.

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POMEGRANATE  
by Void

Pt 1

Martial arts practice finally ended, allowing Enishi to go home. He would have just left early, no big deal, but Tomoe had this thing about responsibility...

She was already in the kitchen, tending her pasta sauce, when he burst through the door to their apartment and started throwing questions at her. "So how was it? What was the office like? Did you meet Councilman Kiyosato? Did they have you shred documents or alter paperwork to let you see what you're getting yourself into?" His voice took on a sneering tone, as it always did when he implied things about politics.

Tomoe spoke without turning away from the stove. "Ask your questions..."

"After I clean up. I know."

She watched as he stored his bag in its customary place, then disappear into the shower. He didn't argue with her anymore, didn't whine or glower at her like he would have when he was younger. Enishi had been acting like an adult for a while now... In his last year of high school, he was on the verge of truly growing up.

---------

"Pour the noodles out into the colander. And I thought we'd have wine tonight, but no more than a glass for you."

She was stalling, and he knew it. She didn't want to admit that he'd been right about her taking a job in the councilman's office. He would let her have her few minutes to work out how to say it. "Sure, Tomoe. You want me to get the candles, too?"

"That would be nice." She put the last fork in its place. Her expression betrayed no anxiety, no emotion at all.

A bit more shuffling around their small kitchen/dining room and then they were both seated, the table bearing steaming plates of pasta, glasses of red wine, and tapered candles. They were ready. The interrogation could begin.

"So... did you meet the councilman?"

Silent for a moment as though contemplating the question, then, "Yes, I was introduced to him. Briefly."

"And how did he seem?" He had a strange gleam in his eye as he shoved a forkful of noodles into his mouth, chewing lustily. He expected a good answer.

Her eyes slid away from him, away from the table. "Kiyosato-san seemed very... kind..." _Rich brown eyes, infinitely compassionate, something almost... searching... in them. _"...And rather overworked." _Only afterward did she realize she had seen more of his face - the handsome features, the laugh lines, the wrinkles in his brow that spoke of stress rather than age. _

"But he seemed earnest, right? He seemed like he would like to talk to you and be your best friend."

_He must have been smiling at her. She had felt a pain in her heart, something like joy and sadness and her face had been as still as a Noh mask. _"Yes... Something like that."

"HA! I knew it! I've been watching this guy on the news; that's exactly how he works. He acts like the most honest guy in the world. Everybody loves him; the media can't get enough of him, his rivals haven't been able to dig up any dirt on him... He's a genius, could be a world leader if he manages to stay on top." Enishi had completely forgotten about his pasta. He had completely forgotten about Tomoe, delving into the subject that fascinated him. "...Gonna be hard, though. He's got to be deeply involved in some seriously illegal business to have gotten this far. The whole anti-corruption thing, it's brilliant, and going after the yakuza... Of course, he must be on their payroll. ...Oh! I bet _that's_ part of the reason for the latest war... One gang is playing along with him, while the other is really getting screwed..."

_Something warm in his gaze, something more important than business or politics. His eyes haunted her after that. He had looked as though he was asking something from her, and she didn't understand... _"He didn't seem like someone who had to worry about deceiving people." Tomoe looked up from her pasta to see Enishi staring at her, dumbfounded.

"Tomoe..." he finally breathed. "I always knew you were naive about the government... but my own sister...!" He slowly began to smile, tender indulgence replacing the shock in his eyes. "It's ok. That's why you have me around." Almost as soon as he spoke the words, his smile died.

Tomoe knew what thought had crossed his mind, deflated him - University next year. She had had to convince him to accept the scholarship, convince him to leave her. It would be hard, for both of them... but he had to grow. He had to accept that nothing was truly secure, not even whatever illusions they created in their home. He had to learn to live without her constant guidance and support.

"Eat your supper," she reminded him quietly. He hadn't touched his plate since he fell silent. "You may be right about Kiyosato-san. However, since I doubt I'll ever handle anything important, at least not without a major promotion, it's just another clerical job."

"So you might quit it..." Rapidly switching demeanors once again, Enishi sat up straight, all his sulking vanished. When he glanced at her, an eager flame of hope burned within his eyes. "And then you could find work closer to my school."

She looked at him in silence for a moment. He knew better. "I feel comfortable working with the people in this office. The woman I work for directly, Mrs. Sakamoto, was very welcoming toward me. The atmosphere is... friendly." _Kiyosato-san arrived and everyone smiled warmly when greeting him. His simple presence lifted the mood from dull and utilitarian to joyful, productive... _"The employees seem glad to be working for Kiyosato-san. They are busy but happy."

"But what about your English lessons? You'll be looking for a better job..."

She considered reminding him that no one knew the future, but Enishi would think she was patronizing him. She settled with something more ambiguous. "It's presumptuous to think so." She got up to clean the dishes, effectively ending the conversation.

She knew Enishi was unsatisfied, but she couldn't help it. He didn't want to accept the fact that they wouldn't be living together any more, and he wouldn't understand her other reasons... She hadn't been lying when she had said that she liked the people, that they had welcomed her. For the first time she could remember in a working environment, Tomoe didn't feel _different_, didn't feel like she was being strange and anti-social just because of her silence, her inexpressive face. She hadn't sensed any coldness or resentment. And Kiyosato-san... he had greeted her and she _couldn't smile back_; she was _frozen_... Nothing but kindness in his eyes, and a question she couldn't understand, couldn't answer...

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Notes:

Title - death! I always associate death with Tomoe, and this is a Tomoe fic... And if that's not reason enough, there was this website I went to once that talked about all the flowers associated with Tomoe in the OAV, and it suggested that the red flower Akira gives to Tomoe is a pomegranate bloom. Ah, so appropriate...

Characterization - ehh... For weeks, I gave myself headaches trying to figure Tomoe out. Right now I'm just kind of going with the flow of the story, not thinking about it too hard. _Trying_ to just channel detached-but-not-cold. If I botch it too much... sorry... And Enishi... I think he's a little easier to write. He's certainly is more forgiving in terms of random mood shifts. At least that's what I tell myself....

Direction - dunno. your guess as good as mine. could get real dark, get real light, could get sexy, could get asexual... i mean, i have a target _ending_ but the middle is primordial soup, anything could crawl out of it. one hint, though - AKIRA!!! :D (the dead guy, not the obscenely confusing anime)

*Disclaimer - _all_ lies :-O i know, it's shocking... (the IMPORTANT disclaimer's true, though. see? i can be an honest person.)


	2. The River Styx

Pomegranate Interlude - _The River Styx_

---

"Miss Yukishiro."

Looks up from her typing into warm brown eyes. Kind smile. Outstretched hand.

_Did I dream you?_

"Pleasure to see you this morning." He was going to say something more, but the words died between them, irrelevant between his seeking, searching light and her cold, mirror-like stare.

***

"Stop staring at me, girl! You look like a ghost."

"I'm sorry, Father."

***

"Kiyosato-san..." The silk slide of jet-black hair, bowing her head, hand gently slipping from his fingers.

_Don't hide the light of your face from me_. Pain in the brown eyes; she doesn't see. "I'll... let you get back to your work, then."

She sits at her desk and feels her failure. Sadness she thought she had abandoned when she was a girl.

_All the fairy tales fall to pieces_.

"Kiyosato-san looks so stern today!"

"The new Drug Resolution is having a lot of trouble getting through."

"Ah, he puts so much heart into his work...!"

~~~

"How was school today, Enishi?"

"It's been almost two weeks since you've asked me that."

She looks up sharply, shocked at the accusation in his voice, shocked because it was true.

He just stared and stared, his eyes grown so _cold._

She couldn't apologize - couldn't regret because the sunlight had seeped into her life through a pair of brown eyes, and it was breaking her to pieces.

~~~

He had met the goddess on the moon. In the space of a moment, she waxed and waned before his eyes. He had glimpsed the sadness within her perfection.

She is a woman men would die for, bleeding at her feet to send their ghosts into her eyes.

He was just a politician - _am I worthy of giving myself to her?_

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Author's Notes:

Well. It's been a while, but the story never really left my mind. Granted, this is an extremely short chapter, but I tried to get across the sense of time moving.

And, naturally, I get Tomoe and Akira in my head fixed pretty well and then Enishi slips out. I just can't handle more than one relationship at a time, so it seems. Brother/sister stuff in a later chapter.

I'd like to revise the first chapter, but I think I'll save that until I write more. Shape everything up into a more coherent story, probably with... five or six chapters. Uhm... don't expect a plot anytime soon. However, DO expect some explanations of why Tomoe is the way she is. And it won't be pretty. I've been reading a lot of Kaori Yuki lately.

To the two people who reviewed, one of whom sort of had to: Thank you!! Maybe you'll get some company with this new chapter! Maybe......


	3. Lethe

POMEGRANATE

_Lethe_

"I saw Lethe; it was not dark water, nor slow. It was pale and rapid and steady."  
-Lesbia, from _Lesbia Brandon_ by A. C. Swinburne

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Long ago, when he was ten years old, Akira came home from school one day to find his father dead on the floor of his convenience store. He saw the pool of blood before anything else. He walked forward a few steps and saw the limp hand, then the rest of the body, all covered in blood. His father's dark head had been face down, ashamed. ...Even in death, ashamed.

The yakuza used to come with their guns and their knives and break things and threaten, young thugs with no respect. They would laugh.

Akira's father used to cry.

Finally, he couldn't take their dishonest methods anymore. One day, he stood up to them, refused to pay. But he was too weak. He could not face his orphaned son, turned his corpse's face to the floor...

*~*~*

"Here's that report you wanted, Councilman."

"Thank you." He turned and smiled as Mrs. Sakamoto placed the files on his desk, then went back to straightening his tie.

Another night spent on the couch in his office. He would go home in a minute to catch a quick shower, then back for more.

Sometimes it really was too much. Not the exhaustion, not the malnutrition, not the endless headaches and frustration.... but sometimes, it took too much effort to simply _care_. Sometimes the persona of Kiyosato Akira took over and he forgot that there was something _behind_ the confident smiles and caring concern he showed the media.

In those times, all he had to do was think of blood drying on the vinyl floor below bright fluorescent lights. He remembered nights when he would stay awake reading only to overhear his father sobbing his dead mother's name. He remembered the quiet sadness of being _oppressed_, feeling _useless_... his father's woes.

But now... When he was alone and silent, he couldn't summon the past. All he saw when he closed his eyes was _her_.

*~*~*

"Wow, Nichi, that was a good match." The boy was breathing hard, bruised in several places. "You've never beaten me that badly before."

A cheerful smirk in a face that had been all-too-somber recently. "Thanks." He had been thinking about his sister, and how she was ignoring him these days. Her eyes would glaze over more often than not when he talked to her, probably thinking of _him_. It gave an extra power to Enishi's strikes if he were angry when he was fighting.

"Oh, look, there's that girl again. The one from the other dojo."

Ponytailed silhouette in the doorway. _Kaoru_. She stiffened when she saw them looking at her.

"Heh. A girl trying to do kendo..." Katou kept yammering, but Enishi wasn't listening. Something about that girl... He had never properly met her, but he had seen her lots of times and knew of her. She came to watch the matches, even though her dojo never wound up competing with theirs. She always watched so intently, was so involved in the moves so that you could sense her watching, sense her aura jump at every strike, even in a crowd...

Without quite realizing it, Enishi found himself walking toward her, Katou following, still talking. "You practice kendo, don't you?"

Her eyes were like... the ocean... "Yeah. Kamiya Kasshin Ryu, the sword that protects." She was a good six inches shorter than him, but she spoke with pride and looked him straight in the eye. She was beautiful.

"Would you like to spar sometime?"

It was like the sun coming out from behind the clouds. The smile that had been in her eyes now appeared on her whole face, her whole body, and lit up everything. Enishi was bathed in her sunlight. "Any time. My name's Kamiya Kaoru, by the way."

A beautiful name; it suited her perfectly. A moment later, he remembered to give a response. "I'm Nichi. That is... Yukishiro Enishi, but no one calls me that."

"It's nice to meet you... Nichi..."

*~*~*

"Why don't you go to bed, Enishi?"

She spoke from the kitchen table, where she was silently doing her English homework. She always stayed up an extra hour to work on it while he played his game system or read or went to sleep. But tonight he was just sitting there, staring at nothing in the living room.

"What is it that attracts people, Tomoe? I always thought you had to have something in common, or have something to gain from being together..."

She looked at him, her mind a few miles away. _Perhaps... it's simply something you want... something you want that you can't have..._

"I don't even understand her," Enishi mumbled. "She's so pleasant... all the time... She never lets anything get her down. And... she's so... _nice_."

Tomoe returned her attention to her brother and almost smiled. She always felt contented when his life was going well. "Are you going to ask her to your prom?"

A shy smile, a blush. "...Yeah."

*~*~*

She liked to watch him. As long as he wasn't focusing those soulful eyes on _her_, she could relax. She had never before seen anyone with as much positive energy as her employer. She marveled at the way people responded to him, always eager to help him with his work, eager just to help _him_.

Sometimes... she forgot that it was impolite to stare, and she could almost... _lose herself..._ in watching him.

Those were the best times.

But then her father's voice would catch her.

***"Tomoe!"

Cranky. Not to be argued with.

"Always, _always_ be a demure young lady. Be someone your mother can be proud of."

Mother, who sits all day humming and rocking, who speaks to birds and screams sometimes...

"Yes, father."***

And she would go back to her work - typing, filing. But he didn't go away - Kiyosato-san didn't go away. His presence was there even if she couldn't see him, even if he was silent, listening to what someone else had to say. And sometimes she could tell he was looking at her and she wanted to tell him not to waste his smiles, not to waste his eyes on her, someone who couldn't look up with the same unconditional kindness and _smile back_.

*~*~*

"Miss Yukishiro, there's going to be an informal meeting at my house tonight to discuss the new legislation, and we need someone to take notes." He was looking at her closely, trying to judge her reaction from the emotionless depths of her gray eyes. "You don't have to... I don't want you to feel pressured, but I would _like_ it if you would come. It would last many hours, probably past midnight. I understand you have other obligations... English courses, I hear."

"I could skip them for a night," she spoke at last. She seemed troubled, looking for words... just a hunch, though; no shift in her mouth, no crease in her brow to disclose her inner thoughts. "If it would help you, Kiyosato-san..."

She would come. Just a minor thing - he had been existing on just seeing her in the office, no words but "good morning," "good evening," "nice to see you today." But knowing that she would come... extra hours of her presence. Being able to look up and see a goddess in the room, sitting silent, an otherworldly being, a living poem, come from heaven with a notebook and a pen. "Thank you very much, Miss Yukishiro. You can't imagine what this means to me." Stock politician words, but he tried to look into her eyes to show that they were real.

Because at the same time she distracted him, she also urged him on. He could look at her and see a tiny world beyond politics and suffering, the haven of silence and serenity that clung to her like atmosphere around the earth, the aura of remoteness that was loneliness... He could look and want to join her but all the same realize, _not yet_. He still had work to do.

"My secretary will give you directions. I hope to see you tonight... but understand if you can't come."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**************

Author's Notes:

All right, two more reviews! Guess I should, like, _reply_.

Shuro: It gave me a lot of trouble when I first wrote it, hence the long period of no writing. Thing seem to be falling in to place in my head right now, though. Go figure.

Devil: Each chapter will be fairly short, but hopefully all of them together will present a whole story. Most of them should be longer than Chapter 2, though.

Istoria: :}

Shuro again: Yeah, much as I appreciate main characters, main storylines... It's good to delve into the other stuff, too.

Don't know why I'm doing this, probably cursing myself. *deep breath* Proposed outline:

-Descent into the Underworld  
-The Styx, river of the eternally binding oath  
-The Lethe, river of forgetfulness  
-The Acheron, river of woe  
-The Phlegethon, river of fire  
-The Cocytus, river of wailing  
-Elysian Fields

Oh, and if you want to see a wallpaper I made for this story... It took entirely too much time; I just really like fooling around on Photoshop... Go to .


	4. Asphodel Meadows

Pomegranate 4:

Asphodel

3 AM. Politicians dozed on cushions, leaning against walls. The housemaid, Aiko, scurried around on her knees with a tray of cold water and a pot of coffee, half the time refused. Some were still listening, however. Scribbled-on sheets of paper lay in heaps around the carpet, interspersed with sleepy junior councilmembers and assistants. They rubbed gound from their eyes, blinking blearily to pay attention.

Kiyosato-san was still talking.

His voice was mostly gone. But it was _imperative_ that they all know what was going on, that they all see the greater picture and be prepared to _act_ in concert...

The crime bill was _going_ to pass. It was legislation that could actually make a difference and Kiyosato Akira was _going_ to push it through and see it working if he had to strain to his last breath to make it happen.

He looked to the back of the room and met _her_ eyes.

Tomoe was tired as well. Her hair, slightly dissheveled, feathered around her face and head. She...sprawled, almost, sitting up, her long legs bent at angles instead of neatly arranged beneath her torso. The time had passed midnight before she had relaxed her prim, rigid posture.

But Kiyosato was staring at her again. For a second, just moments, she drank in the sensation of watching him, looking into those eyes, dark in the mild light, feeling as though there were no one else in the room and they had things to _tell_ each other. But then she looked down, made an effort to smooth out her skirt, sit up a little straighter. She was certain her notes hadn't suffered from her drowsiness--nothing sloppy or relaxed about _those_. She wanted to show him... his every word, every intimation, all jotted down and organized in her precise, legible shorthand, no difference in handwriting from the first page to the last. She hadn't missed a single detail of the plan, even though phrases and meanings and ideas ebbed and flowed and sometimes poured out of him, changed from one thing to another in flashes as he tried to express what he wanted to _do._ No, her notes were impeccable, though she could only imagine how she must_ look_.

"Miss Yukishiro." She must have been more tired than she thought because she hadn't seen him get up and move closer to her, stand over her and murmur, with his hand stretched out. "Forgive me. This has gone on very late, and it's so far beyond your required duty. Please allow me to take you home."

Once more, she rebelled at the kindness, the _softness_ in his gaze. He looked at her as though he would protect her, save her, but couldn't he see she had no _need_ of love, had no comprehension of it?

Somewhere through her muddled thoughts, a response came, pulled itself out of her as she took his hand and he pulled her up. "No, Kiyosato-san, I'm perfectly fine. I want to stay until the meeting is over. I think you'll find, I've taken quite comprehensive notes."

"Miss Yukishiro." His hand was cool in hers, his grip firm, insistent. She imagined she could _feel _his low voice moving the air between them. "The meeting _is_ over."

_Oh_. She felt giddy and exhausted. She felt a fool and beyond wisdom. She noticed that he _hadn't let go her hand_ and was bending over, hiding his face, _bowing_, an odd mixture of eastern and western custom.

"Perhaps... It might be easier... I have spare rooms... Perhaps you'd like to sleep _here_ and in the morning my driver could take you home."

And because she could not fathom that he had anything other than pure intentions, and because she was so tired, and because it seemed _right_ to do as he asked, to sleep in his house, she pulled her hand from his grasp, and when he looked up, nodded her assent.

*~*~*

The phone next to her bed destroyed Kaoru's deepest sleep. It _slaughtered_ it. Growling and seething, grimacing in the beyond-darkness, she smacked the offending object until the receiver tumbled onto her leg.

She retrieved it. "GNNNNNNH." Which translated into: You'd better have a damn good reason for waking me up.

A whispery, inhuman voice came from the region of her jaw. Kaoru frowned, deciding to hang up before she realized she was holding the thing upside-down.

"...aoru?"

"Nnh."

"Kaoru. It's Nichi." His said his name with such... _heaviness_. Sounded so... empty and sad. It frightened her.

"Nichi? What's wrong? Did something happen?" Sitting up now, aware of the phone and Nichi's soft breathing and actually able to construct complete sentences. She waited with the calm her father had taught her in case of an emergency.

"No. At least... I don't think so. ...Tomoe hasn't come home yet."

Kaoru glanced at her bedside clock. 3:45 Her breath caught. From what she knew of Tomoe, it wasn't like the woman to stay out late at night, not at _all_.

"Did you call the police?"

"No, but-"

"I'll get my father."

"Kaoru, NO. Wait."

Slowly, she sat back down on her bed, one foot already in a fuzzy slipper, her free hand clutching her robe.

"Tomoe was home, earlier. She said she had a meeting to go to. She didn't know how long it would last. Past midnight, maybe." He sounded strong, certain. He sounded in control and not panicked at all and she wondered how much he kept inside. "She said... not to worry. She would be back before I went to school."

"So you think she was planning..."

"No, it's just _like_ her. She _always _accounts for every possibility, and she's _always home_, even if she says she'll be late, it's never... this late." There it was, the seeping-in of hysteria. Kaoru sighed.

"Are you worried about her?"

"...I... don't know. She always... Tomoe can _always_ take care of herself. Not physically. But... she's always so cautious. She always knows what she's getting into." Kaoru leaned back against her headboard and closed her eyes. Half of her mind was listening to Nichi and the other half was planning on telling her father that Tomoe was missing. No matter what Nichi said now, it _wasn't_ like her to disappear like this, not so late at night.

"It's just... she used to talk to me, before. She used to tell me everything." She could hear him crying--she could hear Nichi _crying_, just tiny sniffles in the middle of his phrases, not enough to distract him. "...Not, like, important stuff, just whatever was going on in her classes or her job... Now she doesn't... she's so _distracted _all the time."

He had reccovered now. She could imagine him wiping the tears from his eyes, from his cheeks, barely acknowledging them.

"And it doesn't... matter... with most people. I don't _care_... Kaoru, you could break my heart, but I wouldn't... I would _get over_ it." Did he notice his confession? Did he even think of what he said? "But Tomoe... After Mom and Dad died... She's all I have."

_She's the only thing I've learned to count on and I don't know what would happen if I lost her_.

"Nichi... Do you want me to talk to my father? He can have people looking for her, right now. He'll go out himself." Her heart was thumping in her chest; Kaoru wanted action. She wanted to go to Nichi's apartment and fix him tea and wrap something warm around him and wait with him for Tomoe.

"No, it's... it's all right. She told me she'd be out. She would be unhappy if I worried... I'm sure she's fine. She'll be back before I leave for school; that's what she told me."

So easily swayed... Kaoru could see, now, Tomoe talking in her quiet, even voice--she would be out very late, all night, and you _had _to trust her because she was _Tomoe_. Nichi's emotions... but then she only knew Tomoe through Nichi's descriptions... and the few times she had picked up the phone at Nichi's place, his sister's placid voice floating into Kaoru's ear. Tomoe would be fine. Tomoe knew what she was doing. Some kind of _politician_ thing, no doubt. "Nichi, do you want me to come over and wait with you? I can. I can ride my bike."

A short laugh, nothing but mirth in true Nichi fashion. "Kaoru, I live miles away from you. No. Don't worry. I'll call you in the morning to tell you she came home."

Another sigh. Two hours until her alarm would go off... "All right, Nichi. But call me again if you need anything, or if you get worried."

"Sure, Kaoru. And... thanks."

He should know... She wanted him to _know_ this... "Any time."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Author's Notes:

Nope, we're not at the Acheron yet. I _hope_ we get there. This story seems to be meandering every which way. :-{

Ah well. Perhaps it will all turn out... _some_ sort of way in the end.

HA ha ha... the end....

Respondens ad responsa. (dear god that was probably horrible. i haven't tried to do latin in ~months~)

Enishi/Kaoru... yes yes yes... I'm a K/K person at heart, but E/K ~certainly~ has just about as much meat to it. I sincerely believe a relationship between them would work, which might be why I like it together with K/K. It adds spice to life. :} Kenshin with his mega-ego (humility my ass) can certainly use some competition. And poor Enishi... I just wanna hug him. Which is probably why I'm not an E/K person - no one is good enough for Enichi!!!! He is doomed to loneliness and suffering that make him just that much more adorable.... *-* ahem... yeah...

Uhmm.... Void wastes yet even MORE hours of her life fooling with Photoshop:

.

And to anybody reading Yuki Onna: Chapter 2's gonna get a MAJOR rewrite, and I'm thinkin' about future chapters, so expect updates.... soon. ;}

And, uh, coz I FEEL like writing more here:

"Recess" by Muse

Resuscitate  
In my sleep  
Awake to see  
You're never here

But the losing yields  
Another year  
Facing hopes and fears

And I wish  
I could believe there was more  
Hopes suffocating  
You've kissed my life

And the planes and trains  
Are to blame  
For tempting us  
To refrain  
And to cut the chord  
Dis every word  
Of the truths absurd

And I wish  
I could believe there was more  
Hopes suffocating  
You've kissed my life

Hopes suffocating  
Hopes suffocating  
Hopes suffocating  
And you've kissed my life

I think it's rather Tomoe-ish :}


	5. The Golden Branch

Pomegranate

The Golden Sprig

--------------------------

-------------------------

_Any time_............

Waking up with the sunrise. Wearing a man's dress shirt, softest cotton, her underwear and nothing else.

The bed is cold but for the depression she left in it.

"Miss Tomoe..." Aiko at the door, circles under her eyes. She looks a different person with no tray to push around in front of her, no symbol of her profession. She looks Tomoe's age.

"Where is the Councilman?"

"Kiyosato-sama is still asleep. ...I'll be preparing breakfast in a few moments, ma'am."

"I must go home."

"I'll tell Yugiri to bring the car early."

---

He could _feel_ her near. Everything in him drew him _toward_ her, to _touch_ her. Tomoe. Warm. Near.

He knocked.

Miss Yukishiro......

"Miss Yukishiro?"

I was wondering.......

Too softly. She _couldn't _hear his desperate heart beating on the other side of the door. She didn't feel the same _need_.

Tomoe.......

"Sleep well, Miss Yukishiro."

I need......

Turned to go to his cold, empty bedroom and cold, empty sleep. No better than his office. Worse. Space around him, a vacuum of quiet, blank...

The door opened. She leaned out and he could see a sweep of hair, a knee.

You.....

She looked up at him when he didn't speak, and showed him her eyes, more clear and beautiful and bottomless than he remembered.

"Miss Yukishiro."

She glanced down again. He contemplated her profile. "I found it in the closet. It was more comfortable than the clothes I was wearing." Her _knee_ peeking out beneath the bottom of one of his spare dress shirts, stored in the guest room.

"Take it. Miss Yukishiro...." _Tomoe_... His hand on her hand that rested on the doorframe. His face suddenly so close to hers that he could smell the fragrance of her hair, realize that she was only a few inches shorter than him. "Miss... Tomoe... I've wanted to..."

She looked up at him and her eyes were _blank_, but not quite--a question, a concern, like she had _expected_ this and wanted it to be _over_.

His hand tightened on hers. Silence a few more seconds and then he _didn't_ _kiss her_ and his grip relaxed.

"Miss Yukishiro. We should... talk... about this... There are some things I want to discuss with you."

She nodded, looking at his collar. "Certainly, Kiyosato-san."

"Good night."

---

_Tomoe..._

_Kiyosato-san._

Akira...

There's something I wish to discuss with you.

_I can't..._

I can't.

_I can't get you out of my mind_.

I _can't_.

I can't.

Please...

Please stop loving me.

---

"Kaoru."

"Nichi." Smiling on the phone. Better than the waffles she was eating for breakfast, the sound of his voice.

"Tomoe came home right on time, won't talk to me about it, natch. She seems pretty tired."

"Maybe she'll tell you about it tonight."

"Maybe..."

"Hey, you gonna come over this weekend? My dad said he'll cook dinner for us. ...He really likes you, you know."

"Yeah, I'll be there..." Sleepy smile. Pleased with himself, with her, with life in general if only for a this brief moment. "Well, I'll talk to you later. Got to read ready for school."

"Bye, Nichi."

"Bye... Kao-chan..." The click of disconnection at her end.

He was left blinking at the phone in his hands, in the back of his mind registering of sounds of Tomoe taking her shower. But foremost in his thoughts... What had become of Yukishiro Enishi? What had come out of his mouth...?

_Kao-chan...???_

_-------------------------------------------------------------_

_--------------------------------------_

_------------------_

Author's Notes:

Lookit!!! Be _amazed_ at my inability to sustain a mood for a single _page_!!! Does _anybody _like this kind of writing?? Ehhhhhhh....?

Uhmmmm.... no excuse. None. I'm thinking.... _angst??? _Hello??? _Where_ is the angst??

Maybe next chapter. HMMMmmmmm (like I haven't been saying that for the past three chapters).

But, _look_, there was _progress _in their _relationship_. No rhyme or reason and WHY??? Because I'M the author!!! Ha HAH!!

Muchas gracias, Shura!!!!!!!!!

oh, and... 80s music? me? listen to 80s music? heh heh heh. :}

-Void (too tired to apologize)


	6. River of Woe

Pomegranate 6:  
ACHERON

----

I sing my sad song,  
And I hope forever.

-JJ72, "Bumble Bee"

----

"I love you."

"I know."

Prim and proper with her head meekly bowed, her bangs falling in front of her eyes. A moment of pure, blinding anger--God damn it, _look_ at me. He wanted to ask her... beg her... if she could love him, too, but he knew what her answer would be.

But he couldn't send her away. He couldn't give up, not yet.

He was going to speak, he was going to do touch her, he was going to do _something,_ but she beat him to it.

"Kiyosato-san, I want to tell you... I want to thank you... for the kindness you have shown me." Her voice trembled. She raised her head and _tears_ stood in her eyes. "I... wish... I could be the type of person who could love you."

"Tomoe..." She tensed at the use of her personal name. Akira noticed but did not regret, it had just slipped out of him. "Just that... it's more than I could ever ask of you."

"...I'll submit my resignation in the morning..."

His hand on her hand, just like two nights ago. She gasped and met his pleading gaze. Sadness... sadness in his eyes that mirrored her own sorrow.

"Don't go."

He moved slowly, waiting for her to flinch, waiting for her to bow her head in resignation. She watched him until he was so close she couldn't focus on his eyes. And then....

Warm lips, shut eyes, a fluttering in her heart and she didn't want to move or breathe, wanted this moment to last forever and she wouldn't have to face what would come after.

It wasn't passion but it was _yearning_, and even this physical contact was becoming too much, when he pressed closer instead of pulling away.

"Kiyosato-san." A hand on his shoulder, staying him, the first time she had touched him of her own volition. "I'm not able to do this. I... can't."

And she could feel it inside of her, what had always been a part of her but she had never been tempted to share it or show it, never considered that it might affect another person.

"My father..." Her father was a part of her, one she had never thought of taking out. "My father used to touch me, when I was a little girl." How simple, to say it. How easy, because it was fact. No shame, no horror, no sorrow... But she _knew_, she knew what she would see when she looked into his face. She glanced up.

Curiosity. Patience. He was... _waiting for her to go on_. There was... no judgment in his expression...

Tomoe was weeping. And then his arms were around her and her face was pressed to his warm chest and for the first time in years she was letting the emotion _out_.

She remembered her mother, staring at the tree outside her window, beatific smile, loving, empty eyes. She remembered how gentle her father would be when he bent down to kiss her mother's forehead and how harsh... how _hurtful_ he would be with her...

She remembered being slapped and shoved, being told how _dirty_ she was by the same man who used her.

She had _learned_ to behave with restraint, to never _ever_ show what she was feeling on her face, to push the emotion down, bury it, until she could barely feel it at all.

She remembered the day she was left alone... no more mother to pity and envy and resent and adore... no more father to depend on, to be tied to so intricately... But not completely alone... there was a small person who depended on _her_, a small person she had to be strong for, a small person she had to care about, had to give him the childhood and hopes and happiness that she had never had...

Enishi... had no clue about the person his sister was.

Before Tomoe knew it she was laughing into Akira's tear-soaked shirt as violently as she had been sobbing a moment before.

_Release_.

She hadn't told him a thing, beyond the first glimpse at a troubled childhood. All those thoughts had passed through her head but she hadn't shared a single one with him.

But it was all right. He was still smiling at her, and before guilt and shame could claw their way back up from her psyche, Tomoe smiled back.

She could allow herself this one moment of happiness.

-------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------

---------------------

AN:

And to my long-suffering readers:

Thank you for continually reading and commenting. :} I didn't think it would make this much difference... but it really *is* inspiring, knowing there are people actually reading this who keep coming back when there are knew chapters. It's major incentive to write.

Shuro - I'll try to have more descriptive substance, rather than disjointed thoughts.... But, really, the emotions are what are important to me so I try to just get those written down before the muse departs, but I *will* try to be more... coherent, definitely.

Devil - Yes, it is boring. I'm not really sure what you mean as far as honey and species... :` But the boring I understand. Maybe this chapter is more to your liking...??? There's more emotion, especially in these later chapters, and there will be some action... eventually....


	7. Fiery Shores

Pomegranate Chapter 7:  
PHLEGETHON

by Void

---------

I feel the fires of purgatory consuming all my sins, and the feeling is _bliss_.

--------

"...And then we just pushed it in... Tohma turned so red... and then Suzuke suggested we steal my father's cop car..."

Enishi smiled when she laughed, watching the clouds in the deep blue sky, watching the joy in her deep blue eyes, feeling her smile ripple through him like sunlight...

"Mou... Nichi... you haven't been listening..."

"I've listened." His lazy reply, reaching up to push a stand of hair away from her face where the late spring breeze had pushed it. Enamored of her, trapped in her gaze. "Kaoru, go to prom with me."

She stared at him a moment. Enishi suddenly realized that he had spoken out loud.

"...Ok."

He sat up, trembling, watching her somewhat-shocked expression. "Y-you will? Really?"

Her expression softened into that endless kindness he loved. "I will. Really."

She laughed again as he drew her close, a quick, clumsy kiss on her gorgeous lips. "Thank you," murmured at her chin. Hearing her precious chuckle in reply.

"Silly Nichi. Of course I will. We're boyfriend and girlfriend, aren't we?" Fingers tousling his silky black hair.

And then he _had_ to tickle her to retaliate, and of course she tickled back. Rolling around on their picnic blanket on this perfect spring day, two youngsters in love... Their laughter mingled with the birdsong throughout the park.

~*~*~*~

He was late to get back home. Kaoru's father had invited him in for dinner... He forgot to call...

But Tomoe _met his eyes_ when he walked through the door, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as though she knew _everything_.

For just a moment, he wanted to hate her--of _course_ she would be happy; she _so pleased_ he was with Kaoru, so that he didn't need _her_ so much, so that she could spend more time with _him_.

Enishi pushed the emotion away as futile. Tomoe was happy; he was happy; they were both growing up. _Moving on_...

"I'm going to spend tonight with Akira, Enishi." The the creases of contentment around her eyes never wavered.

So she had been waiting for him? Guilt pulsed through him, briefly. He had been keeping her from the man she loved. He brushed past her on his way to the kitchen to grab a beer. "I hope he's planning on making an honest woman out of you someday."

"Enishi..." He turned slowly, afraid of the hesitation in her voice. He had offended her. He should have known better than to say something remotely crude. Tomoe was so sensitive about things like that... But no... Look at her, still smiling, but... tears..? in her eyes... and how had he not noticed the ring, the golden band gleaming on her extended left hand?

"Kiyosato-san proposed a week ago. I wasn't sure when to tell you."

"Tomoe!" Drink forgotten, she was in his arms and he was hugging her close, laughing, spinning them both around. She made no sound but he could imagine the small, silent smile she would have, beaming over his shoulder. "Tomoe!" He couldn't believe how _happy_ he was, pangs of loss and sadness but the unexpected _joy_, knowing Tomoe's joy, having found it himself in warm eyes and bright smile. "Congratulations."

"Thank you." She pulled away. "I think... he can make me happy, and he says he'll be happy with me..."

"Of _course_ he will."

He didn't notice he was crying until her cool hands wiped the tears from his cheeks, pulled him close to her and he clung on, different this time, all laughter gone.

"Enishi... I'll miss you, too."

-------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------

Author's Notes:

Yes, I've decided that E/K is really, really cute.

Uhm... Expect a smattering of Tomoe/Akira angst... maybe not even angst... non-fluffiness... before the dramatic conclusion.

Don't you love the way I skipped, like, weeks and weeks of relationship development that was probably really important??? Maybe I'll play catch-up with the next chapter....

Til next time... Good Night. And happy (belated) V-Day.


	8. Incinerator

Phlegethon Part Deux:  
INFERNO

-------

"By a new Alchimy, they doe not onely extract spirit out of euery thing, but transmute it all into spirit."

-Donne, _Pseudo-martyr_

------

She left her little brother asleep. Both of them, they'd been holding things in. Holding too much in, cherishing it too long...

She greeted Akira with a kiss, open and warm, a promise. She smiled, just a bit, just the tiniest expression. Her ability to do that was his gift to her.

Hands in his silky hair, feeling his bewildered exhalation against her lips, feeling his warm, sturdy hands around her waist. These were all his gifts to her.

He didn't understand her, but he was willing to spend a lifetime trying to figure her out.

A lifetime... Perhaps he would grow tired of her, but she was willing to give him the benefit of doubt. That was her gift to him.

They didn't move for a few minutes. He liked to hold her close, bury his face in her hair, convince himself that she was really there, with him. Kiyosato Akira had subsisted too long on dreams to accept reality easily.

He had recovered the goddess in the moon. Now she was here, she was _his_, and it took a few moments, every time, to think on that, to remember it and believe it. Smiling, he pulled away to see the cool contentment in her grey eyes. Joy burned deep within him like embers.

_Yours_, her smile said. _And you're mine_.

Making love to him was like igniting an inferno. Childish fear, old memories... they burned and flaked away until there was nothing but him and her and she wanted to _melt_, wanted to scald him, wanted to spill onto his skin and dissolve the barrier between him and her, wanted to transfigure both of them, _purify_ and _unify_ their souls.

If her unexpected ferocity startled him, it was nothing to the euphoria of waking up beside her, her sweet warmth in his bed.

"I want to get to know your brother."

Both of them in white cotton robes at his kitchen table, eating breakfast. His apartment was so _clean_.

She blinked at him sleepily, pleasantly, encouraging. "Why don't you invite him to the meeting with the Ambassador?"

"You think he'd like that?"

"Oh, yes, Enishi loves politics."

"And you'll come, won't you? It's normal for a councilman's wife to serve tea at these things."

"But I'm not--"

"Afterwards, at the press conference, I'll announce our engagement."

She smiled into her bowl of rice. Akira sighed in relief. Some part of him had doubted that she would want to make it public. He reached over to where she was sitting and took her hand.

"Thank you."

A small smile, her small smile that was becoming more and more addictive to him, was her reply.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

-----------------------------------------

A/N: Apparently by angst I mean total lack of angst. Or something. ...Well, I'd like to think it's not _all_ sweetness and cherry pie. *sigh* I just.... give up, entirely. I shall never make a promise again.


	9. To Cross the Cocytus

Miracles do happen. God doesn't like a WiP…

POMEGRANATE

--Cocytus-- 

The River of Wailing.

…

The assassin barely noticed the wind whipping his long red hair, pulled tightly back from his face. Only took note of it to correct the angle of his aim.

He could pick out his target even through the warp of the glass, from the terrible (though necessary) angle he was at. He recognized the features of Akira Kiyosato from the countless hours he had spent studying photographs, video tapes… There was no room for error. Battousai _allowed_ himself no room for error.

And perhaps another would have been moved by the sincerity in that face, the fresh suffering of a _well-meaning_ politician. Battousai was not in the business of being _moved_. It was not up to him to decide who did and did not deserve to die. He had committed himself to following orders from those who did know… _Innocent_ did not exist in an injust world. _Innocents_, perhaps, suffered less when dead.

But Kenshin pushed that thought aside. Suffering… did not concern him. It did not do to dwell on it. He dealt in sudden death.

The people in the building were shuffling around. Taking their places. And there was Kiyosato-san, just in place, exactly where the Battousai needed him, his head seeming to float about a sheen of glare in the window, his heart… _there_.

The assassin aimed his rifle, concentrated one more moment to be sure, and squeezed the trigger.

…

Kiyosato felt more at peace than he had in years. Perhaps since the day he had found his father dead. Perhaps since the moment his mother, in the hospital, barely a memory, had said goodbye.

His fellow representatives were finally listening to him. And if not fully supporting him, at least _attending_ his opinions… Considering them. This was the largest obstacle. One more push and then things would get _easier_. …Hope was becoming reality, not just a necessary illusion for his own well-being.

And there was Tomoe.

Tomoe who was perfection, even broken.

Tomoe who _needed_ him.

Tomoe who could use him, would use him, even if she did not need him, after all.

Tomoe.

He could imagine them in a meditative cottage together, surrounded by a winter forest and silence and the peace and the wisdom of the ancients. Contemplating the miracle of each other.Years and years from now, after his work was done. Tomorrow, if he failed.

Tomoe.

Her brother suspicious, jealous, possessive, and who could blame him? Enishi had accompanied her today and Akira had seen the challenge in his eyes, responded with… acceptance. 

Because Tomoe was greater than either of them. She was enough for both of them… For anyone. She was infinite.

And this was his thought as she stretched before him to serve his tea, a creature made of light in her pale kimono embroidered with ethereal blue. This was his thought as the assassin's bullet entered her heart.

…

…

A/N: J K Rowling hijacked my muse. I dedicate this chapter to the bitchy reviewer who kicked my ass back into gear. ^_^

This is the home stretch, folks. Two more chapters, tops. It's been real.


	10. Elysian Fields

Elysian Fields

* * *

Councilman Kiyosato is a gentle politician. The media love him. If another politician wants to win popular support for a bill, he or she only has to appear shaking Kiyosato's hand, bowing with true reverence for the more experienced man. A reserved, quiet, kindly man. Not the wisest – not the shrewdest politician. But the people love him. The people trust him.

There was some pressure to run for Prime Minister. After the story broke about Tomoe-san – Prime Minister if he had gone after it. Kiyosato-san declined. They offered him a Cabinet position. Kiyosato-san declined.

Kiyosato-san continues to represent his district. He continues to push for stricter crime legislation. Though he is less vocal than before, his words themselves hold the power to change people and opinions.

Small changes. But they make a difference.

He doesn't think of her all the time.

The stillness of a winter day, cold glass against his fingertips as icy rain sleets the streets outside his window.

He thinks of her.

He thinks of her in shades of grey, reflected in the cool, damp window.

He regrets that he couldn't inspire her to smile more.

He regrets that he doesn't have more memories.

He regrets that she...

He doesn't remember her smiling. Her ghost is as sad as his soul. Her ghost is as solemn and still.

And she is beautiful.

And he wishes he could touch her.

Cold, damp glass against the skin of his hand.

Cold glass against his forehead.

He doesn't miss her. She is never gone. He loves her. She left him, but he loves her.

Kiyosato Akira is alone.

But he is in love with her, and his job is not finished yet.

She loves him.

She will wait.

She will wait forever.

And it isn't really living, what he does in between.

It is working, doing what she was proud of him to do.

In the afterlife, he will be able to hold her again.

* * *


	11. Afterword

Author's Notes: Final

---

I had initially envisioned closing chapters from the points of view of Nichi and of the assassin, but whenever I sat down to write... I just didn't have anything to add to Akira's sorrow and resignation.

Hopefully readers of Istoria's _JIA Casefiles: Street of Toyko_ can fill in the blanks!

Anyway, at long, long last, I decided to fix some ancient formatting errors (from some long ago adjustment of the website's document code) and put this story to rest.


End file.
